Once and Always
by Ymaconis
Summary: 3 years post-EW w/ AU ending. Four of five stayed together, the other left without a trace. Mariemaia's at a new school, and Relena's life has been threatened again, and ghosts that won't stay ghosts... Could anything else go wrong? ...OF COURSE!
1. Chapter 1

**One of my friends introduced to Gundam Wing somewhat recently, and after quite a bit of thought, I've decided to try my hand at writing a story about our lovely quintet (and crowd). I suggest reading the background on my story; I have made a few deviances from canon. Oh, and I have not had the chance to read any of the manga. Just saw the anime and the movie.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Gundam Wing, there would have been more episodes. In addition, Quatre's "space heart" would have been explained.**

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

_BACKGROUND: Takes place three years after Endless Waltz. Lady Une adopted Mariemaia after she was released from the hospital; that's who Mariemaia means when she says "Mother". Heero disappeared after deeming himself well enough to run away from the hospital, and no one has seen or heard from him since. Instead of destroying the Gundams, the pilots turned them over to the Preventers for safekeeping, aware that they could need them if someone tried to start something in the future. Zechs and Noin spent 18 months on Mars before returning because Noin wanted to be able to have children some day. Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei keep in touch with each other; Wufei and Duo work for the Preventers, Trowa drifts, sometimes with the circus, other times not, and Quatre started rebuilding damages done during the War, spending most of his time in the Middle East working with the Maganac Corps. _

_XXXXXXXX_

"Hey 'Maia!" Duo said cheerfully, plopping down next to the ten year old. "How's the new school?" None of the pilots had harboured hard feelings toward the girl; she had been used, after all.

"It seems nice," Mariemaia said. "I don't start classes until tomorrow, though... Why does Mother feel it necessary to send me here? Just because I was shot..."

"'Maia, you know that you were lucky that shot didn't kill you," Duo scolded gently. "Besides, the scar still gives you trouble. That's what this place is for. Kids who have physical limitations that makes it hard to function in other schools." Noticing the angered look on Mariemaia's face, Duo prattled on. "Besides, the student teacher ratio is smaller than other schools."

Mariemaia just snorted. "Does Mother really think that I'm more likely to find someone who won't hate me in a smaller school? I'm not stupid; even with the public announcement made after I was in the hospital, plenty of people still seem perfectly happy to blame me for what my grandfather organized. Do tell Mother that for me, Duo." With that, the redhead left, causing Duo to wonder where she learned her muttered curses.

XXXXXXX

"Miss Khushrenada didn't take what you had to say very well, did she Maxwell?" Wufei asked. He had offered to drive Duo out to Mariemaia's new school (no one trusted Duo behind a wheel if avoidable), and now the Deathscythe pilot saw why.

"Did you think she would, Wuffers?" Duo asked, using one of his many nicknames for Wufei as a comeback to Wufei's subtle taunting.

It had the deserved effect. Wufei spent the ride back home ranting on about justice, Duo's immaturity, and once or twice, it switched to the topic of women. Although Wufei did rant on about 'stupid onnas', Duo noticed that Sally, Une, or Relena didn't find their way into his list of 'onnas that waste his time'.

Still, Duo noticed that Wufei caught himself a few times, and knew what had stopped Nataku's pilot. Or rather, who.

XXXXXXX

"Hey 'Fei, check it!" Duo crowed. "Trowa and Quatre came to see us!"

Wufei merely grumbled. Having been trapped for half an hour in a car with Duo, he welcomed their friends and fellow ex-terrorists gladly, although he didn't show it. "Winner, Barton."

"Hey Duo, Wufei," Quatre greeted them warmly, laughing a little when Duo gave the waiting pair the traditional Maxwell welcome; a hug. Trowa merely nodded, still preferring to let others do the talking. "Where are you two getting back from?" It wasn't uncommon for Duo and Wufei to be paired up, especially since Wufei and Sally began a relationship. Zechs and Noin seemed to be Une's only exception to her rule that couples couldn't be field partners.

"Making sure 'Maia would be alright at her new school," Duo said. "She will be... I think. She's not too happy about it, but Une is only trying to give her the best shot at a semi-normal life."

"Hey, you guys might want to come see this," Sally said, sticking her head out the door. "Like, now."

The four pilots followed her, curious. Sally didn't often drag them inside; the last time she did it was because there had been a major explosion in downtown.

"...earlier this day, the calm that has existed since Dekim Barton used his granddaughter in a play to gain totalitarian control was shattered when an attempt was made on Vice Foreign Minister Darlian's life. No harm befell Miss Darlian, and the would-be assassin was found and captured. However, he did leave us with a rather cryptic message: 'Three beats. We have had the first and second; the third is coming quickly. Be prepared, or you will not make it through.' No one seems to be able to understand what the assassin's message is supposed to mean.

"A hotline has been set up; if you have any information on this latest threat t peace, we urge you to please call-" Trowa hit the off button on the TV remote.

"Well, that's just peachy," Duo said with a sigh. "Just when we finally start thinking peace will actually last this time, some upshot has to go and blow it. And we need a revolution... Why?"

The other pilots merely shrugged, none of them sure on how to answer.

XXXXXXX

"Is this truly necessary?"

"..."

"Oh, don't do that. It just makes you seem cold."

"That's the point."

"Why do you insist on being something you're not?"

"..."

"Why do I insist on having conversations with you? Come to think of it, why do I? What's to stop me from going out there right now?"

"You know what."

"...it's hardly a wonder some many people hated you. Still, you saved me."

"You did the same."

"But you don't seem like the type to care about that. Furthermore, you admitted to not knowing it was me, yet you still intervened."

"Would you rather I had not?"

"There was a time when I wouldn't be sure of the answer to that. But you need someone to keep an eye on you; you have the worst luck I've ever seen."

"Hn."

"Still, that doesn't answer my question. Is this really needed? Is _it_?"

"The others will be able to tell it's you. Granted, that may not cause problems of its own. But at least they won't think..."

"Has it occurred to you that it could just make them feel they have basis for that fear?"

"A few times. But they know I'm not a baka."

"Still..."

"Look on the bright side. At least the 'modifications' aren't in that one."

"True... How do you...?"

"I don't know."

"...Well, standing here won't stop this latest threat. Shall we?"

"Hn."

"Oh, do not start this again..."

XXXXXXX

"Hello there."

Mariemaia looked up from her book to see a rather innocent looking blonde standing there. She stared at the girl.

"I said hello," the girl repeated, staring right back at Mariemaia. "It's considered rude not to say hello back."

"Are you speaking to me?" Mariemaia asked, a quick glance around proving no other students in sight. Still, it never hurt to be careful.

"Yes," the girl wasn't rude in her answer. She didn't say anything, waiting patiently for something.

Mariemaia could easily guess what. "Hello."

The girl grinned at that. "My name is Janet Luikan. What's your name?"

"Mariemaia Khushrenada."

"Oh, I heard about your grandfather," Janet said. "He wasn't a very good man. It was rude of him to use you like that."

"You don't think I was to blame?" Mariemaia asked, caught off guard.

"No," Janet said. "How could you have been?"

"What makes you say that?" asked Mariemaia, confused by this girl, Janet. Everyone else she met seemed to hate her for the rebellion three years ago.

"That's easy," Janet said with a laugh. "You were lost."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Chapter dedication to the first person to guess:**

**-Who the conversation was between (the one with nothing but dialogue)**

**-Who Janet is supposed to be**

**Please review. It helps me feel motivated to write the next chapter. I mean, I will anyway, but it's still nice.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! My first reviewer figured out one (and a half) of my questions! As such, this chapter is dedicated to **bbybear85 **for correcting guessing that Janet is the little girl with the puppy-sans puppy, (What? I'm a sucker for happy endings, OK?) and that one of the people in the dialogue-only conversation was Heero. **

**In other news, I read the "Episode Zero" manga... Brand new view on the pilots. Plus, now I can add references to that to my story... But yeah. Quatre just got distinctly more BA. And Wufei makes SO much more sense now... **

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"What do you mean, I was lost?" Mariemaia asked.

"It means you were lost," Janet said with a giggle. "Your grandfather had tricked you into thinking something that wasn't true, and there wasn't anyone there to tell you so."

"How do you know that I was 'lost'?" Mariemaia asked, intrigued by the other girl. Janet reminded her of Quatre; both seemed to just know how other people felt.

Janet shrugged. "Mom says it's my gift, to be able to tell when people are lost. Why are you here?"

"I was shot when my grandfather tried to seize control," Mariemaia said. "And you?"

Janet tugged up her blouse sleeves to reveal a couple of faint scars trailing her arms. "It's the one on my back that gives me trouble. Four and a half years ago, I used to live next to a mobile suit base. A rebel blew it up one day; I was lucky I wasn't killed when a Leo fell on my old home. I lost Mary, though..."

"Who was Mary?"

"My puppy," Janet explained, pulling her sleeves back down. "I had walked her earlier that day. That was when I met Mister."

"Mister?" Mariemaia asked. "Mister who?"

"I don't know, he never told me his name, so I've always referred to him as Mister," Janet admitted. "He was lost, and said that he had been since he was born. I gave him a flower that day. I never saw him again."

"Maybe he was the rebel that destroyed the base," Mariemaia suggested. "He might have felt bad for getting you hurt."

"But he was just a kid," Janet protested, yet at the same time it sounded like she had wondered the same thing. "Maybe a little older than we are now, but not by much. I think."

Mariemaia chuckled before she could stop herself. "Sorry. It's just... I know a few people that that reminded me of."

"It's fine," Janet said. "So what were you reading?"

"'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen," Mariemaia said. "It's not the first time I've read it, but it's a good book."

"Oh, I've read that a few times myself!" Janet said. "I get weird looks sometimes, though. You know, because I'm only ten..."

"As am I, but no one ever given me weird looks, and if they did, I ignored them," Mariemaia said. "So tell me. What are the other students here like?"

XXXXXXX

"So what are we going to do about this?" Duo asked. "I don't think we should just jump straight to using our Gundams, don't want people thinking that you're tyrants if this new pest doesn't have too much firepower, but at the same time, what if they have mobile suits?"

"Maxwell..." Wufei said, annoyed by Duo's prattling. He crossed his arms across a chest that was slightly more built than it had been three years ago.

"Duo has a point, Wufei," Quatre said, still the strategist of them. "We should check the scene first, but have our Gundams nearby, just in case. I know there are still mobile suits around, and I don't want to risk being caught off-guard."

"I can assume that you four would rather go into this as Gundam pilots and not Preventers?" Lady Une asked, although she knew the answer.

"If it's no trouble, it would probably be best," Trowa said. The unibanged teen was lucky he had only grown around three inches. Had he gotten too much taller, he might not have been able to pilot Heavyarms anymore.

"Of course not," Une said. "After all, who knows tactics better than you four? However, I am going to insist you don't go into this alone. Zechs and Noin will be waiting with Tallgeese and Noin's Taurus should the situation require them. Also, I'll be sending our best negotiator along..."

"Are you crazy?" Duo asked. "These people just tried to kill Relena, and you want to send her out to try and negotiate with them?"

"Look, we haven't got much choice here, Agent Maxwell," Une said. "Miss Darlian is the best negotiator there is. Besides, you needn't worry so much. I'm going when we find this people again, and I assure you, I will keep a personal eye on Miss Darlian."

"How do you plan counterattacking?" Quatre asked. He too had grown a bit; a few inches of height and some filling out. "Other than their attempted assassination, we don't know anything about them."

XXXXXXX

"Must you constantly be tinkering with that thing?"

"Hn," Heero grunted in way of response.

"What are even working on?"

"Making sure... Kuso! ...that I got that stupid bug out of the system," Heero said, checking his fingers to make sure they weren't burned from the sparking that had occurred as he tinkered with the circuits.

"So you're actually fixing something this time," Heero's companion said a chuckle.

Heero glared at the man. "Why aren't you working on your mobile suit, anyway?"

"Because some of us don't have a need to constantly tinker, and instead do the standard fix-ups and checks of the system."

"...Remind me why I saved you from that mob again?"

"I would, but you don't seem to want to tell me why."

"Hn."

XXXXXXX

"Hey Lena!" Relena barely had time to look up before Duo glomped her. "I don't have to like the circumstances to be happy to see you, right?"

Relena laughed. "It's good to see you guys too," she said. "Still, why did you guys call me in now? Une said that when you found the rebels, I'd be the negotiator, but I don't think you've found them yet."

"What, we're not allowed to hog the Vice Foreign Minister in order to give her a little downtime while we wait?" Duo asked with a grin. "Besides, Hilde'll be dropping in shortly, seeing as Une OKed her working on this assignment... I figured the two of you might want a little time to catch up."

"Social time, huh?" Relena asked with a chuckle. Although she still loved Heero, she had changed some over the years. Not much, though.

"Darlian," Wufei said, not even making except of his addressing everyone by last name for her.

"Hey Relena!" Quatre said, smiling warmly. Trowa just nodded in greeting and went back to checking something on the computer.

"Hello Quatre, Trowa, Wufei," Relena said. "Lady Une."

"Relena," Une said. "I hope none of you mind, but my cousin will be showing up for a visit. I haven't seen her in years, but she should be around your age I believe."

"I didn't know you had a cousin," Relena said, somewhat surprised.

"Her father and I had a falling out, and she only just got in contact with me," Lady Une explained. "Now, if you'd excuse me, it would be rather rude not to greet her."

"Yes, of course," Relena said, allowing Une to leave. "Did any other you know Lady Une had a cousin?"

Trowa paused in his search, wondering briefly if... He shook his head.

"Nope," Duo said, answering for the other three. "I wonder what she's like."

"As long as she isn't like you, Maxwell, I don't really care," Wufei said, ducking out of the room before Duo could process that.

"HEY!" Indignant, Duo gave chase, causing Sally, Relena, and Quatre to sigh. Trowa was more interested in the results of his search.

"Quatre, come look at this," Trowa said, not taking his eyes of the figures he had pulled up.

"What is it?" Quatre asked.

"Something about us not being able to find Heero had been bugging me lately, but it wasn't until the possibility of us needing our Gundams was mentioned that I realized what it was," Trowa said. "Wing Zero was damaged in Heero's attack on Brussels, remember? So, assuming he would fix it up..."

"He would need to get Gundanium!" Quatre shouted, realizing what Trowa was getting at. "I'm guessing you found someone placed an order for some?"

"Orders," Trowa corrected. "And from the looks of it, it seems like Heero... Rather than order it all at once, he broke the order down into smaller amounts over time."

"Why do I sense a 'but' in the future?" Duo asked, he and Wufei having caught the last part of the conversation as they returned.

"That can't be right," Quatre said, looking at the amounts and adding it up in his head. "Unless Heero was building an entirely new Gundam that would end up larger than Tallgeese or with some serious heavy armour, he wouldn't need this much Gundanium. It's enough to fix Wing Zero and build a second Gundam."

"Well, what if that's what he did?" Relena suggested. "After all, some of Heero's actions never made much sense..."

The four pilots exchanged a look, the first thought that came to mind being 'Siberia'. Although Wufei hadn't been there, he had learned of it from the others.

"Why would he need two mobile suits?" Sally asked, earning her a few shrugs(Duo, Quatre, and Trowa) and one deadpan(Wufei).

"Anne!" a girl shouted, and they turned to see Une being hugged by a blonde girl who, true to word, seemed about their age. "Father told me a bit about you, but never very much... What? No-Name?"

"Huh?" the other pilots turned to Trowa, how was on his feet, staring impassively at the girl.

"Middie Une."

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**Uh... BLAME THE PLOT BUNNY! And, yes, I know, Middie isn't _REALLY_ related to Lady Une, but once the plot bunny attacks, it's better to just go with it. So yeah. Little 'Episode Zero' reference. Aren't you proud of me?**

**And would someone please guess who Heero's companion is? You only have until the next chapter comes out, because I can't hold it off longer than that... L3600, you are NOT allowed to say, because you already know! **


End file.
